Wigan History Shop And Careers Office

The Wigan History Shop and Careers Office is a public library that was built in 1877 by the architect Alfred Waterhouse. It is constructed of red brick in English bond, with sandstone and patent ceramic dressings, and features a graduated slate roof. The building has a T-plan layout, with the entrance, staircase, and offices located in the block facing Rodney Street, while the library occupies a long rear wing that runs parallel to Library Street. The design reflects the Elizabethan Revival style, incorporating some Gothic elements.

The exterior of the building is two storeys high, with a basement and attics. The entrance front includes a large two-centred arched doorway on the left, made of pale patent ceramic in a Gothic style, featuring set-in colonnettes, a moulded arch, and a gable with a roundel that has a relief profile of Dante. Above the doorway are a pair of narrow transomed and cusped windows with linked hood-moulds. To the right, there is a stepped pair of cusped lancet stair windows with hood-moulds, along with a four-light window on the first floor. The facade is topped with twin gables, each containing a three-light mullioned attic window.

The facade facing Library Street is symmetrically composed, featuring a four-bay rear wing set back from the street, positioned between the gable of the front range and a projected gable to the right. This wing has a chimney-stack that emerges from the first floor, adorned with a carved coat of arms at its base, and features triple cylindrical chimneys. The wing also includes buttresses with offsets, tall two-light windows at the ground floor, and three-light mullioned windows at the first floor with shouldered lights. Additional architectural details include a corbel table, a parapet, and three-light dormers with hipped roofs. The basement area is protected by wrought-iron railings that feature dogbars, scrolled panels, and triple spikes.

Inside, the building retains original balconies, shelving, and decorative iron and wooden fencing. It has a notable staircase with an iron balustrade, an aisled upper floor with galleries, and arch-braced roof trusses. This library is recognized as an unusually unaltered example of municipal architecture by a prominent architect.